The genesis of To Open Eyes: A Film on Josef Albers developed from Arnold Bittleman's appreciation for Albers while Bittleman was a student at Yale University in the 1960s. Wanting to preserve Albers’s teaching method—learning by doing—Bittleman set out with filmmaker and editor Carl Howard to make a visual record of Albers teaching students how to see and use color as a visual grammar. The film includes archival footage of Josef Albers at home in conversation with Bittleman, as well as footage from Black Mountain College and Yale University.

Many describe Albers as a crucial mentor: open-minded, progressive, and democratic. Others found him overbearing or even autocratic. Nowhere is this paradox more pronounced than in the varied voices of women students amongst the boys’ club of 1950’s Yale. These first-hand accounts of Albers from his former students and colleagues — William Bailey, Audrey Flack, Karsten Harries, Erwin Hauer, Sheila Hicks, and Richard Lytle — not only suggest Albers’ teaching methods and ideals, but also provide a glimpse into his personality and his relationships.